The backlog in asylum case has been cleared and the numbers of new cases has dropped sharply, according to the Courts Service annual report.

There was a 30% decrease in new asylum cases lodged (368 down from 530).

The High Court increased by 94% the asylum cases it decided or resolved in court.

This is almost a reverse of the previous year where more cases were resolved outside court hearings.

Practice Direction HC81 in relation to the asylum, immigration and citizenship list came into effect last year, allowing the backlog for hearing dates for asylum matters to be eliminated.

Practice directions

A more efficient list in personal insolvency appeals, and no delays in hearing commercial cases, both resulted from new practice directions.

Practice Direction (HC84) created a new list on alternate Mondays to efficiently manage summary judgment matters.

The Commercial list also introduced further changes through HC 85 to ensure that cases are heard without delay.

There was a 40% drop in new bankruptcies last year and a 28% drop in possession cases initiated, with a 37% drop in possession orders.

A full 63% of rape sentences are over ten years in length.

And 30% of licensing applications moved online immediately, as eLicensing was piloted and rolled out last year.

Benchmark

Chief Justice Frank Clarke said this morning that the 2019 annual report provides a benchmark of where the courts stood prior to the pandemic.

In his foreword to the report the chief justice said: “In a year where we saw 445,000 criminal and 233,000 civil matters be presented to the courts, I can say with confidence that the courts and the Courts Service have evolved and responded to the changes in volume and in case types so as to meet the needs of court users”.